Beets....Again

We have some wonderful family friends who were going out of town for about a week and they thought I might like to try out their juicer while they were gone. They were right! I was very interested in trying this out especially after reading some recipes in The Feed Zone cookbook. The authors really push juicing because you can fill up on vitamins and minerals from many servings of fruits and veggies without having to attach yourself to a toilet or go in for a blockage removal due to fiber overload. Pretty picture...your welcome.

So to really take full advantage of the juicer I made 3 recipes from the book one night. First I made some granola sweetened with unfiltered apple juice, some brown sugar, a banana and agave. I mixed up this combo with some old fashioned oats, currants and raisins and threw it in the oven to bake and it was very very tasty. 

I have to admit I was full of apprehension  while buying more beets at the grocery. I just cannot get past the dirt taste of the darn vegetable. I would just give up on them altogether but the health benefits are so epic I really want a relationship with them. I guess we are destined for a love hate one. Anyways the recipe called for 3 beets, 4 carrots, a few apples and any greens you want. I threw in some kale and a sliver of ginger as recommended by the juicer owner. I also threw in some pineapple.

The juice was really good! It still smelled a little bit like dirt but the taste was really good. I was super pleased. The next recipe I made was for veggie burgers and one of the main ingredients was the pulp from the juice I just made.

So I mixed together some pulp, black beans, some red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and sticky rice. I then formed patties and sauteed them in a pan till brownish on each side. They also really looked like hamburgers because the beets in the pulp made the sticky rice turn this deep red color so it looked like bloody meat. Yum.

So I finally found a great way to eat beets! I kept the juice in the fridge and drank a serving after some of my harder workouts that week. It was like drinking recovery... I feel faster already!